The Berkeley College men's basketball team enjoyed a potential season-altering weekend, as the Knights captured victories against the University of Maine-Fort Kent this past Friday, 72-60, before outlasting USCAA No. 2 Central Maine Community College 91-86 this past Saturday. With the pair of victories, Berkeley improved to a mark of 2-4 on the 2022-2023 campaign.
In Friday evening's victory over the Bengals, the Knights were paced by the outstanding effort of Mark Combs, as the standout netted 29 points. Freshmen Kenneth Hines and Karranja Bright scored 10 and eight points, respectively.
Saturday's victory over the Mustangs saw Combs put together a dominating effort, as the young sensation connecting on 12 of his 19 attempts from the floor, and nine of his 10 free throw attempts to finish with a team-high 35 points. He also added a game-high five steals, while snatching four rebounds. Tahshon Moore connected on five shots from downtown, finishing with 15 points, a game-high seven assists, five rebounds, and four steals. Finally, Hines and Bright both had 14 points and seven rebounds apiece, with Bright contributing three steals,
Central Maine was paced by the stellar effort of Boston Caldwell, as he drained seven triples, and 13 of his 19 attempts from the floor overall, to finish with a game-high 38 points. He also snatched three boards while adding three steals. Wyatt Hathaway registered 14 points while grabbing three rebounds, and Mpore Semuhoza contributed 11 points, a team-high six assists, and six rebounds. Finally, it was DeMarco McKissic finishing with a game-high 11 boards.
Berkeley College built a commanding 17-point edge, 40-23, with 4:47 remaining in the opening session, before the Mustangs closed the half on a 14-4 run to close to within seven points, 44-37, as the teams entered the locker room at halftime.
In the second half, with the Knights clinging to a 63-61 advantage with 11:21 to go, Berkeley and Central Maine would proceed to exchange the lead five times over the ensuing 2:06, the latter of those exchanges coming when Caldwell drained a three-point basket to put his team ahead by a score of 70-68.
The Mustangs would eventually build their lead, going up by as many as seven. Central Maine led 84-77 with 3:36 remaining, and appeared to be in prime position to improve to 10-1 and stay unbeaten at home, but the Knights had other plans.
Combs drained two freebees with 2:52 remaining to cut the Knights deficit to five at 84-79, and 21 seconds later, Combs would convert on a layup to draw Berkeley even closer (84-81). Central Maine responded with a Caldwell jumper, making it 86-81 Mustangs with 2:14 left.
That aforementioned Caldwell jumper would be the final points Central Maine would score, as the Knights would finish the game on a 10-0 run to steal a victory in thrilling fashion. That 10-0 Berkeley run featured a converted layup and made free throw by Hines, and seven consecutive points from Combs, including a three-point basket that put the team ahead for good.
Overall, in the final 2:14, Central Maine shot 0-for-5 with a turnover.
Berkeley College registered the upset despite Central Maine being the more efficient team shooting the basketball. The Mustangs connected on 52.2 percent of their three-point attempts (12-23), and 51.8 percent of their shots overall (29-56), while the Knights hit on just 32.3 percent of their launches from downtown (10-31), and 45.2 percent of their attempts for the day (33-73). The Mustangs held a slim 36-34 edge on the glass, while also notching 24 assists compared to 18 for the visitors. Berkeley did win the turnover battle, committing just 16 miscues while forcing 25 Central Maine mistakes.
The Knights will return to the court tomorrow evening, as Berkeley will play its first Hudson Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Conference game of the season, hosting Vaughn College. The game will take place at CCNY's Nat Holman Gymnasium, with a start-time of 8:00pm.
